1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved quick-release connector for replenishing coolant in an air conditioner. The quick-release connector comprises a female connector and a male connector detachably connected with the female connector, wherein the male connector has a ball valve provided therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Air conditioning coolant needs to be replenished from time to time. A quick-release connector is used to inject coolant into an air conditioning system. Referring to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, a conventional quick-release connector has a female connector (90) and a male connector (not numbered) detachably connected with the female connector (90). The male connector comprises a hollow body (60), a driving rod (70) movably received in the hollow body (60) and a closing tube (80) abutting the driving rod (70) within the hollow body (60).
The hollow body (60) has a neck (61) integrally formed on one end and provided with multiple balls (66) around the periphery thereof, a quick-release collar (67) movably mounted around the neck (61), a first spring (68) placed between the quick-release collar (67) and the hollow body (60) and a retaining ring (69) secured in the neck (61). The free end of the hollow body (60) is threaded into a cap (78). A first and a second groove (611, 63) are defined in the hollow body (60) to respectively receive a first and a second O-ring (62, 64).
The driving rod (70) has a push end (72) and a shoulder (73) formed near the push end (72). A sealing ring (74) is provided between the shoulder (73) and an inner incline (82) in the closing tube (80).
A second spring (86) is provided between the closing tube (80) and an inner step in the hollow body (60) to force the closing tube (80) to press against the sealing ring (74).
An inlet (88) is screwed into the sidewall of the hollow body (60) to communicate with the inner channel in the hollow body (60).
As seen in FIG. 9, when the male connector is connected to the female connector (90), the driving rod (70) is pushed by the second spring (86) to engage with a closing pin (92) in the female connector (90) and, the closing tube (80) is pushed by the female connector (90). Afterwards, the inner incline (82) is separated from the sealing ring (74). Meanwhile, the closing pin (92) is pushed by the push end (72) of the driving rod (70) to communicate the female connector (90) with the male connector. Then, the coolant is able to flow from the inlet (88) into the hollow body (60) and the female connector (90).
However, a defect exists in the above disclosed connector. The first and the second O rings (62, 64) are respectively rubbed by the closing rube (80) and the female connector (90), thereby the first and the second O rings (62, 64) are worn out after repeated connection between the female and the male connectors, and the tight seal of the connector is decreased and the life span of the connector is reduced.
Therefore, it is an objective of the invention to provide an improved quick-release connector to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.